Lengthy hospital wait times and growing emergency room diversions mean healthcare will once again be a top issue in Saturday’s election.
Conservative incumbent Claire Rattee says tackling it starts with training local so health care workers don’t need to be convinced to move here.
As for retention, her top priority is making sure people have access to amenities like childcare and good condition schools when they get here.
Sarah Zimmerman, on the other hand, defended her NDP’s US recruitment strategy, saying once people get here, they want to stay.
She says, along with other programs, it’s helped them significantly reduce physician wait lists across the Skeena.
Green candidate Nick Gottlieb agrees with Rattee that child care is key, but also that there’s just too much pressure on hospitals.
Gottlieb says their plan to establish community health centres will reduce that load by giving people another option to access primary care.
We haven’t been able to connect with OneBC’s Larry Taylor but will keep trying.
We’ll see who will have a chance to see their proposals through when we hit the polls on Saturday.
